New Typeface for U.S. Highway Signs

I’ve been noticing that the signs on the major roadways have been slowly integrating a new typeface. I have to say I am a big fan. After doing a quick iPhone search, I found out that the new typeface is called, “Clearview” by James Montalbane. Apparently in 2004, the U.S. Federal Government passed a law allowing states to adopt the new typeface. It appears that it’s for a good reason too.

Legibility Studies

According to Clearviewhwy.com, “Pennsylvania Transportation Institute In two PTI studies intended for conventional road guide signs (Figure 1), use of an early version of the Clearview-Bold (left position, original version of typeface) improved nighttime sign reading distance by up to 16 percent when compared with the E-modified road sign typeface (right position).”

Figure 1

“By allowing a viewer to read the unique footprint of the word when displayed in upper/lowercase letters, there is an increase in accuracy, viewing distance, and reaction time. The research (Figure 2) revealed that when the upper/lowercase Clearview-Condensed (upper position, original version of typeface) is compared to the most commonly used all-capital-letter typeface (FHWA Series D, lower position), there was a 14 percent increase in recognition when viewed by older drivers at night, with no loss of legibility. When the size of Clearview-Condensed was increased by 12 percent to equal the overall footprint of the uppercase display, the recognition gain doubled to 29 percent with little change in overall sign size.”

Figure 2

Another great post to check out is by Typographica: “Clearview: A New Typeface for U.S. Highways“

Holiday Gift Ideas

With the holidays approaching, I’m sure you’ve been thinking about what to get your family and friends. Usually I’ll brainstorm on my drive to and from work only to forget what I thought about once I reach paper and pen. Thanks to blogging, I can use this as a way to track cool gift ideas I’ve come across:

• MoMA cutting board (it folds into three to make it easy to put chopped food into a pot)

MoMA Cutting Board

• Bean bag cell phone chair (cute way to keep your phone near by on your desk at work)

Bean Bag Cell Phone Chair

• Mobi designer sandwich bags by Todd Oldham (kind of extreme in my opinion)

Mobi Designer Sandwich Bag

• Fingerfood party plate (clever way to carry a glass of wine and appetizer in one hand)

FINGERFOOD Party Plate

• Thumb Thing (ideal for reading with one hand)

Thumb Thing

• BIG Sound Speakers for your iPod (I love miniature and gigantic versions of the real thing)

BIG Sound Speakers

• Wacky Websites desk calendar

Wacky Websites Desk Calendar

Looking back at that list, it resonates with my “gifts should be practical” philosophy. Now, if you’re like me where you’re looking for low-budget gift ideas, here are some homemade food ideas I’ve come up with:

• Cookie swap with coworkers
• Pretzel wafers with melted hershey kisses topped with an M&M (great sweet & salty combination)
• Mini tinfoil bread pans filled with homemade sweets
• Pretzel nuggets w/ dry ranch dressing pack